Aston Villa were emphatically thrashed 4-1 at the hands of high-flying Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Tuesday night.
Unai Emery’s side faced the Eagles off the back of an impressive 2-1 comeback win against Chelsea, but collapsed in disappointing fashion in South London.
It was a frustrating first half for the Villans, who went 1-0 behind thanks to a goal from Ismaila Sarr. The Palace winger got on the end of a parry from Emiliano Martinez, who tipped Chris Richards’ header into his path.
Morgan Rogers had a goal ruled out in the first half after Ollie Watkins was offside in the buildup, but he did get on the scoresheet to equalise for Emery’s side. Running onto a flick on from his England teammate Watkins, the former Boro star brought the ball under control superbly with his head, before swivelling and firing home.
Things only went downhill for the Villans from that point onwards. Just seven minutes after Rogers’ equalsier, Jean-Philippe Mateta fired home after latching onto a loose ball just inside the penalty box to give his side the lead.
The Eagles added a third in the 71st minute courtesy of Sarr once again, before second-half substitute Eddie Nketiah scored their fourth to put the icing on the cake for Oliver Glasner’s side.
It was a tough night for Villa, and Emery’s decision to switch the system perhaps did them no favours.
Aston Villa’s system change vs. Palace
After playing his esteemed 4-2-2-2 system at Villa Park for the last 18 months or so, it was arguably a surprise when Emery tinkered and played a back three against the Eagles, especially given the centre-back shortage within his squad.
The Spaniard has played a back three or back five just four times in the entirety of his Villa career so far. Perhaps he did it to better match up with Palace’s system. Glasner deploys his side in a 3-4-2-1 formation.
Whatever the reason, it did not work for Villa. The Athletic reporter Jacob Tanswell said the West Midlands side “looked sturdy in the new shape” until the Eagles scored, from which point “things became loose” at the back.
In many ways, it was far too easy for Palace. The Eagles carved open Villa’s defence, shown by the stats at full-time, courtesy of Sofascore. The home side had 19 shots and created six big chances, compared to six shots and two big chances created from the visitors.
It was certainly a tough nigh at the office, with two of the back three in paruclar struggling for Emery’s side.
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The Aston Villa defenders who struggled most
When your side concede four goals, it is never going to be a night in which you covered yourself in glory as a defender. However, for January arrival Axel Disasi and Lamar Bogarde, it was a particularly tough game.
The centre-backs started on the right and left of Villa’s back three respectivley, but both had their own issues against a deadly Eagles attack. Bogarde had to directly defend Sarr, who was running riot all night, and Disasi came up against Eberechi Eze, who created three chances.
John Townley, journalist for Birmingham Live, gave the pair a 4/10 for their performances. They were two of seven players he gave such a rating to, showing just how tough of a night it was for the visitors.
Indeed, some of their stats from the game reflected the ratings Townley gave the centre-backs. For example, Disasi won a total of just five out of 11 duels, and lost the ball 11 times. As for Bogarde, he lost the ball five times.
Touches
55
66
Duels won
5/11
5/8
Pass accuracy
85%
96%
Number of times ball lost
11
5
Clearances
2
4
Villa’s form has been awful of late, and Emery is now in a precarious position. He must find the right balance, and perhaps that does not include Bogarde and Disasi playing together in a back three again.
It is essential that they get their form back ahed of a big run in, and starting those two defenders at centre-back with ach other might not be ideal in such a key time.
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